Kfc Delivers Tasty Meal But Ordering Needs Work

TAKE-OUT CUISINE

March 21, 1996|By Scott Joseph of The Sentinel Staff

It nearly took as long to order my food from KFC as it did for it to arrive. Well, that's a little bit of an exaggeration, but not much. And it is more a testament to how quickly the food got to my house than a complaint about the phone service.

In fact I have had problems ordering KFC for delivery in the past. When the decision was made to start offering delivery, there apparently was no thought given to how to deal with customers over the phone. The last time I tried to order from KFC I was put on hold so long that I finally gave up and went chickenless.

On my most recent attempt, however, my call was answered promptly, and the fellow who answered acknowledged that he was new and was unfamiliar with the computer system. His honesty and earnestness were refreshing, so I did not mind that it took so long to get through the ordeal of pinpointing the address, then trying to enter which dinners I had selected.

I wanted one dinner of original recipe (read: deep-fried) and one of rotisserie chicken, which the Colonel calls Rotisserie Gold. I was told I could get a quarter chicken in the rotisserie, which amounted to a leg and thigh. But the original recipe was available only by the pieces. I ordered two pieces - a leg and a thigh. That little bit of ''who's on first'' ate up a couple of minutes in the ordering process.

The rotisserie order came with two sides. I selected the mashed potatoes and baked beans. The fried chicken came with one side. I chose wedge fried potatoes but also added a side of cole slaw at extra charge. Bread is included with each order, so I got one biscuit and one cornbread muffin.

At the end of the long call the fellow told me my total and said the food would be there in half an hour.

But only 18 minutes later a cheerful woman with my order was ringing my doorbell.

As is usual with KFC, the chicken was tasty, but the side orders left something to be desired. The mashed potatoes just get worse every year. The pieces of chicken looked a little small, but they were meaty. I had just enough to eat.

By the way, despite the push to change the name to KFC a couple of years ago, you'll still find the Colonel listed under Kentucky Fried Chicken in the phone book.